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Bricks with inscriptions are displayed at Mingzhi Hall, an inscription brick museum in Jiading district, Shanghai. [Photo/jiading.gov.cn] |
Mingzhi Hall is currently China's largest inscription brick museum with a collection of more than 30,000 such bricks. Most bricks collected in the hall are from the Wei (22-265), Western Jin (265-316), Eastern Jin (317-420), and Northern and Southern dynasties (420-581). The bricks were generally of high quality and solid texture, reflecting the level of brick-making techniques at that time.
The inscriptions on the bricks are useful for historical studies given their detailing of emperors, important customs, as well as some facts and figures that were not found in historical documents, such as people's names, locations, official titles, folk customs, meteorology and disasters, and life episodes.
The museum has opened free to the public for over 20 years and receives about 30,000 visitors every year. It is the only Chinese brick culture research and protection center awarded by the Pre-Qin History Society of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Address: No 118, Zhangpu Road, Juyuan New Area, Jiading district, Shanghai
Tel: 86- 21-6995 9305